The air cargo industry has seen exponential growth over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While speed is the name of the game in the air cargo industry, the pandemic has bottlenecked the supply chain.
IATA, the International Air Transport Association, has released a new digital platform called EPIC (Enhanced Partner Identification and Connectivity). It will be used as a database with tools that centralizes connection information for stakeholders, reducing the cycle time to determine communication channels with each other to minutes, according to IATA.
There are over 40,000 freight forwarders exchanging messages with over 450 airlines through various third-party messaging service providers. EPIC’s digitisation of this communication process will accelerate the speed in which information is sent along the supply chain as well as make any information delivered more accessible. EPIC has already attracted the participation of 32 airlines, 900 freight forwarders, 10 government authorities, 5 international organizations and 13 third-party messaging providers.
EPIC does not stop there. It aims toward becoming a one-stop-shop in the global supply chain space. Not only will it help business-to-business communication, but it will also support digital customs clearance process. Advance cargo information (ACI) requirements rollouts and preloading ACI programs (PLACI) will receive a boost.
IATA has rolled out their new digital platform under a subscription model that will allow users to realise quick revenue and cut direct costs by as much as 40%.
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